Inadequacy of the Conventional View of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

1986 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Adler ◽  
M. Silver ◽  
M. P. Shaw ◽  
V. Cannella
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Intrinsic Defect ◽  
Dangling Bond ◽  
Defect States ◽  
Band Tail ◽  
Conventional View ◽  
Substitutional Doping ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous ◽  
Basic Experimental Data

ABSTRACTThe conventional view of the electronic structure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon is: (1) the material is characterized by a mobility gap of about 1.8 eV, with exponential band tails due to disorder and deep defect states arising from silicon dangling bonds (T3 centers); (2) substitutional doping occurs because of the formation of chargedimpurity/dangling-bond pairs, e.g. P4+ – T3-, at the substrate temperature; (3) the effective correlation of the T3 center is about 0.4 eV; (4) T3o centers are the predominant recombination center; (5) the three intrinsic ESR signals are due to electrons on T3o centers, electrons in the conduction band tail, and holes in the valence band tail. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that this model is in sharp disagreement with an array of basic experimental data, and much of the evidence presented in its favor is based on self-inconsistent logic. We conclude that it is very likely that large concentrations of charged intrinsic defect pairs are present in all hydrogenated amorphous silicon films.

Capacitance Studies of Light-Induced Effects in Undoped Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

1985 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Zellama ◽  
J.D. Cohen ◽  
J.P. Harbison
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Density Of States ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Dangling Bond ◽  
Light Saturation ◽  
Band Tail ◽  
Bond Density ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

AbstractThe effects of light saturation on the properties of undoped a-Si:H films were studied by a new capacitance profiling technique which can be used to directly determine changes in the dangling bond density of states near midgap. Coplanar conductivity and capacitance vs. temperature measurements save the changes in activation energies for electrical conductivity. These studies indicate that, while substantial increases in the dangling bond densities are observed for most samples, the detailed behavior of the light induced changes in these films are inconsistent with the creation of such defects by breaking weak valence band tail states.

scholarly journals Calorimetry of dehydrogenation and dangling-bond recombination in several hydrogenated amorphous silicon materials

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Roura ◽  
J. Farjas ◽  
Chandana Rath ◽  
J. Serra-Miralles ◽  
E. Bertran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Dangling Bond ◽  
Silicon Materials ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

Doping Mechanism in Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon

1997 ◽  
Vol 498 ◽  
Author(s):  
C W Chen ◽  
J Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Amorphous Carbon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Donor Atom ◽  
Dangling Bond ◽  
Coulombic Repulsion ◽  
Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon ◽  
Total Energies ◽  
Doping Mechanism ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

ABSTRACTDoping in hydrogenated amorphous silicon occurs by a process of an ionised donor atom partially compensated by a charged dangling bond. The total energies of various dopant and dopant/bonding combinations are calculated for tetrahedral amorphous carbon. It is found that charged dangling bonds are less favoured because of the stronger Coulombic repulsion in ta-C. Instead the dopants can be compensated by weak bond states in the lower gap associated with odd-membered π-rings or odd-numbered π-chains. The effect is that the doping efficiency is low but there are not charged midgap recombination centres, to reduce photoconductivity or photoluminescence with doping, as occurs in a-Si:H.

Theoretical Studies of Structure and Doping of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

2011 ◽  
Vol 1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Cai ◽  
D. A. Drabold
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
Defect States ◽  
High Impurity ◽  
Bond Center ◽  
B Doping ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous ◽  
Center Site

ABSTRACTIn a-Si:H, large concentrations of B or P (of order 1%) are required to dope the material, suggesting that doping mechanisms are very different than for the crystal for which much smaller concentrations are required. In this paper, we report simulations on B and P introduced into realistic models of a-Si:H and a-Si, with concentrations ranging from 1.6% to 12.5% of B or P in the amorphous host. The results indicate that tetrahedral B and P are effective doping configurations in a-Si, but high impurity concentrations introduce many defect states. For a-Si:H, we report that both B(3,1) and P(3,1) (B or P atom bonded with three Si atoms and one H atom) are effective doping configurations. We investigate H passivation in both cases. For both B and P, there exists a “hydrogen poison range” of order 6 Å for which H in a bond-center site can suppress doping. For B doping, nearby H prefers to stay at the bond-center of Si-Si, leaves B four-fold and neutralizes the doping configuration; for P doping, nearby H spoils the doping by inducing a reconstruction rendering initially tetrahedral P three-fold.

Observation of slow dangling-bond relaxation inp-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 2173-2179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin W. Carlen ◽  
Yueqin Xu ◽  
Richard S. Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Dangling Bond ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

Defect States in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon-Sulphur Alloys by ESR and PAS

1991 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaorong Han ◽  
Jianmin Qiao ◽  
Piyi Du ◽  
Zhonghua Jiang ◽  
Zishang Ding
Keyword(s):  
Glow Discharge ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Spin Density ◽  
Molecular Hydrogen ◽  
Annealing Temperature ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Sulphur Content ◽  
Defect States ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

ABSTRACTWe have presented ESR and PAS measurements for a series of a-SiS:H and a-Si: H films deposited by glow discharge at different parameters. The spin density in a-SiS:H alloys measured by ESR is essentially independent of the sulphur content, while the density of defects measured by PAS increases significantly with the increasing of sulphur content. The ESR signals in a-SiS:H alloys strongly depend on both annealing and illumination. The spin density increases up to 540°C and then decreases with raising annealing temperature for a-SiS:H and a-Si:H alloys. The results suggest that some new defects such as molecular hydrogen and microvoids are appeared when addition of sulphur to a-Si:H films.

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